Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane O'Meara Sanders march with supports at the Independence Day Parade in Waukee, Iowa. (photo: Arun Chaudhary)
11 September 15
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the end of summer approaches, we find Bernie Sanders with the wind at
his back building a political revolution that has the establishment
starting to get nervous. We have Hillary Clinton attempting to stall her
downward spiral by offering a public apology for conducting State
Department business on her private email server. We also have Joe Biden
gearing up to rescue the party from Bernie’s growing movement.
When I arrived in Iowa in February the story was “Will
Elizabeth Warren run?”
Everyone thought she was the only one with a
chance to challenge Hillary Clinton, the most prohibitive frontrunner in
modern politics. Most progressives, including myself, loved Bernie
Sanders but weren’t sure if he could overcome the “S-word.” That’s why
so many of us held out for Elizabeth Warren, whom we thought was more
electable.
Looking back, I still think Warren would have been a
great candidate, but she doesn’t have the track record that “Bernie” has
had in the progressive movement. She may be the rising progressive
star, but she has a long way to go to match Bernie’s credentials.
Some are calling this the summer of discontent. Many
point to Donald Trump and claim he is an anti-establishment candidate.
Outsider? Trump is one of the people who own the establishment. The only anti-establishment candidate is Bernie Sanders.
Authenticity
Now we have a Democratic field that is for the most
part trying to sound like Elizabeth Warren, except for Bernie. Bernie
Sanders was fighting Wall Street and the banks long before Elizabeth
Warren entered the political fray. It will be pretty hard for any of the
Democratic candidates to out-progressive Bernie Sanders.
Hillary Clinton is sounding all the right themes, but
when it comes down to specifics she tries to strike a balance for her
corporate supporters. It is also hard for her to make the case that she
will take on Wall Street while they pour money into her campaign
coffers. The Clinton campaign recently promised The New York Times that “this
fall the public would see the sides of Mrs. Clinton that are often
obscured by the noise and distractions) of modern campaigning.” They
said the rope lines would be gone, and she would take responsibility for
the email crisis. They also promised there would be efforts to showcase
Clinton’s “humor” and her “heart,” and “to bring spontaneity to a
candidacy that sometimes seems wooden and overly cautious.”
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s impossible to
“try” to be more authentic. And how do you plan to be spontaneous? As
if she were on script, she teared up the next day and learned a new
dance on Ellen.
Martin O’Malley is the traditional liberal, savvy
Democratic politician who reminds one of the old-school labor Democrats
like Dick Gephardt. But the voters are seeing through the package: they
see the teleprompter and can tell he is rehearsed.
It is that authenticity that O’Malley and Clinton will
never have that will lead Bernie Sanders to victory. When you listen to
Bernie, you can hear the passion. He believes in his soul that the
billionaire class has rigged the economy and the political system.
When
he says enough is enough, you believe him. You know he is not adapting
to the latest poll numbers – he hasn’t even hired a pollster. That’s
right, a presidential candidate without a pollster. The candidates with
pollsters are talking about income inequality, student debt, climate
change, etc. The country has finally caught up to Bernie Sanders. These
have been his issues his whole career.
The other draw is that when Bernie says the campaign
is not about him or any other candidate, you believe him. Bernie Sanders
is not running a campaign against individual politicians. Bernie
Sanders is running against a rigged political and economic system that
the American people are fed up with. The pundits and the pollsters have
not figured out why a self-described Democratic Socialist is drawing the
biggest crowds and surging in the polls. Let’s take a closer look at
why they don’t get it.
Grassroots
I have been an activist involved in many grassroots
campaigns for over 25 years. I have heard the term grassroots thrown
around every election. What many called grassroots were really top-down
campaigns with grassroots rhetoric. We hear about the great grassroots
campaign run by Barack Obama, but it was all rhetoric. Obama ran a great
campaign, but it was a top-down campaign, and his organization
continued to be top-down after the election. The Sanders campaign has
both a top-down structure successfully running the official campaign and
many separate grassroots operations working outside the campaign. It is
a phenomenon that no other campaign has had. There have always been
interest groups that organize specific communities, like Latinos for
Hillary, or Labor for Obama, but they always answered to the official
campaign. Those types of groups exist in the Sanders campaign as well,
but there are also groups organizing independently from the campaign.
One of those groups, People for Bernie Sanders, was
started by veteran Occupy organizers. They hold events around the
country and coordinate with national conference calls every two weeks.
The hashtag #feelthebern comes from this group’s substantial social
media effort. What they bring to the table is a network of experienced
organizers around the country who are organizing in communities that the
campaign is not spending resources in yet.
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was the first
group organizing for Bernie. Veterans of many political campaigns, PDA
was the group that organized Ready for Bernie, the draft effort that
pre-dated Ready for Warren. When the Wisconsin Democratic Party held a
straw poll at its state convention, it was PDA that was on the ground
organizing for Bernie. Their efforts led to a surprisingly close result,
with Bernie getting 41% to Hillary’s 49%. It was one of the first signs
that the Sanders campaign was connecting. That took place in June in
the beginning of the Summer of the Bern. PDA is continuing its efforts.
They even have an office in Phoenix. The group has strong connections in
the Hollywood activist community, with Mimi Kennedy chairing the
organization’s board and Tom Hayden as a board member.
These are just examples of some organized grassroots
organizations that are organizing for Bernie. When you move to social
media you will find an even more organic grassroots effort underway.
Social Media
The Bernie Sanders social media phenomenon is just
that, a phenomenon. You will see a lot of reports about how the campaign
hired many from the Obama campaign’s social media team. It was money
well spent – the campaign’s official Facebook and Twitter pages are
thriving. When the campaign announces an event on its Facebook page and
emails its supporters in that area, the RSVPs come pouring in. The
campaign rarely spends resources promoting events; their online presence
is all they need to draw huge crowds. But the official campaign
presence is only part of the story.
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Facebook
pages for Bernie. There is a YouTube channel called Bernie2016tv that
tries to live-stream all of his events. They also have live shows where
they discuss the campaign and show videos produced by independent
sources. The Reddit page is a traffic magnet. Every state has multiple
pages giving anyone the opportunity to post their views and feel like a
part of the campaign. There are different types of moderation: some
pages with no moderation, some with dozens of moderators keeping the
discussion focused.
I have liked many Bernie Facebook pages, so I receive
constant notifications. Not a minute goes by without a message being
posted to Facebook about Bernie Sanders.
I’m not very active on Twitter,
but I hear the same is true about the Sanders Twitter presence. Just go
on social media sites and search for Bernie Sanders, like a few pages,
and see for yourself. You can post every now and then or jump in feet
first and find yourself becoming active in the political revolution.
It’s only a few clicks of the keyboard away.
There is even an effort for a March on Washington that
has over 100,000 RSVPs. At this point the campaign itself is not
involved, it’s a grassroots effort that is just getting organized. They
have had a few conference calls and have reached out to the campaign.
They realize that the campaign is focused on identifying supporters and
getting them to the polls and will not spend money on a March on
Washington, but the message they are getting from the campaign is build
it and Bernie will come. The organizing will all be grassroots, but it’s
likely that Bernie will be there if they organize it.
The old-school pundits are evaluating campaigns based
on how many staff members and offices a campaign has. They see Bernie’s
crowds, but they look at Hillary’s organization and think it’s too
formidable for Bernie. They don’t understand the power of the
grassroots movement and the social media explosion yet. They will start
to believe soon, though. Remember that in October of 2007, Hillary
Clinton led Barack Obama 50% to 21%. She has a smaller lead in the
latest national polls.
Organization
Last week Bernie opened his 16th office in Ottumwa,
Iowa. He is catching up organizationally. Hillary had the money to put
staff on the ground first, but what she didn’t generate was the
excitement for that staff to work with. With Bernie’s crowds come
volunteers that they can turn loose. They admit they are still trying to
catch up with the pace of the people’s response to the campaign. Their
support is growing faster than they can staff up to handle the demand.
It is a good problem! They have plenty of time to build their
organization and turn out the voters that that the huge rallies are
identifying.
Clinton and O’Malley with their Super PACs have more
paid staff, but the grassroots energy is making up for the lack of
staff, and in some ways has become more powerful than all of the
organization built by Clinton and O’Malley. Bernie says he has money and
will do many traditional things but he will also invest in the
grassroots.
Momentum
Following his latest swing through Iowa comes news
that Bernie Sanders not only leads in New Hampshire, but also leads the
latest poll in Iowa. The poll gave Sanders a 78 to 6 percent
favorability rating. Likely Democratic Caucus-goers say 86 to 4 percent
that he is honest and trustworthy, and 85 to 5 percent that he cares
about their needs and problems. Voters say 76 to 9 percent that he has
strong leadership qualities and 65 to 15 percent that he has the right
temperament and personality to handle an international crisis, according
to the poll by Quinnipiac University.
The poll’s director compared Sanders to Eugene
McCarthy, saying it remains to be seen if he can seize the momentum and
move forward to victory. I am sick of seeing the so-called experts tell
us that Bernie is just another Howard Dean, or Bill Bradley, or even
Gary Hart. How about another Barack Obama? They constantly point to
Sanders’ weak numbers with minorities. There are five months to go
before the first caucus. In 2007 Hillary Clinton had a firm grip on the
African American vote until Barack Obama pulled what they called an
upset in Iowa. Bernie is trending up and Hillary is trending down. The
national polls don’t hold as many answers as the polls in Iowa and New
Hampshire. Voters in the early states are paying attention. They are
seeing the candidates. Clinton commercials are filling the airways in
Iowa but seem to be having no effect on her decline in the polls. Let’s
say it, let’s admit it – Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner for the
Democratic Party nomination. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is in trouble.
Anatomy of the Surge
The first time I saw Bernie Sanders in this election
season, my eyes were opened. It was in Iowa City at a bookstore. It was a
standing room only, overflow crowd. Bernie connected with the crowd and
I took notice. Two days later in Ames, Iowa, he spoke at the Story
County Democrats’ annual soup supper. Hundreds were in attendance and
again he connected, this time with the party activists. This Iowa win
was in February, and it was the beginning of the surge.
After he announced his candidacy in late May before
5,000 people in Burlington, Vermont, the real head-turning events began.
Two days later in Davenport, Iowa, 800 people packed a ballroom at a
local college. The overflow crowds continued over the next few days, and
the real eye-opener came in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The campaign booked
a union hall in Minneapolis and within hours they knew it wouldn’t be
big enough, so they moved the event to a gymnasium at the American
Indian Center. It turned out to be too small. Thousands had to listen to
the event on speakers set up outside as 5,000 people turned out to hear
Bernie.
The surge continued in Denver, Phoenix, Dallas,
Houston, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles. The pundits continued to
dismiss Bernie, comparing the crowds to those for Howard Dean, even
though they were three times the size.
Even as Bernie pulled ahead in New Hampshire polls,
they made excuses. Now that Bernie has pulled ahead in Iowa maybe, just
maybe, the talking heads will realize that Bernie can win.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where
he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain
archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment
movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace
and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of
Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian,
and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural
events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be
spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
Comments
+74
#
2015-09-11 13:19
Many of us regular
commenters on RSN have been supportive of Bernie for president for
years. It's been heartening to see him run, and extremely gratifying to
see him surge in the polls. I don't have much confidence that the
corporate-owned MSM will get on the bandwagon and give Bernie his due;
and I don't put much stock in the Democratic National Committee, which
seems to be doing all it can to assure a win for Hillary and all but
silence other Democratic contenders. But I still have faith in We the
People to do the right thing and vote for Bernie in 2016.
+2
#
2015-09-12 04:53
Smart you are,
MEBrowning, to recognize and educate us all on the Dem. National
Committee's "...doing all it can to assure a win for Hillary and all but
silence other Democratic contenders."
It's time that all of us/U.S. wake up and recognize that in order to restore democracy - basic rights, rule of law, liberty and justice for all - we absolutely need, before it's too late, to get onboard the Bernie Sanders train, and work harder than hard, with courage and determination, to see to it that no more electing of bought off, self serving pols., i.e. Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump occurs, but rather that the political revolution that Bernie has begun, gets into full gear.
Recognize we must that it is not going to be easy to undo the evil coup that has overtaken this country of ours, but recognize it we must, and get active in support of the real McCoy people server, Bernie Sanders, because, unlike Hillary Clinton.....
SANDERS PANDERS NOT, TO THE 1%
It's time that all of us/U.S. wake up and recognize that in order to restore democracy - basic rights, rule of law, liberty and justice for all - we absolutely need, before it's too late, to get onboard the Bernie Sanders train, and work harder than hard, with courage and determination, to see to it that no more electing of bought off, self serving pols., i.e. Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump occurs, but rather that the political revolution that Bernie has begun, gets into full gear.
Recognize we must that it is not going to be easy to undo the evil coup that has overtaken this country of ours, but recognize it we must, and get active in support of the real McCoy people server, Bernie Sanders, because, unlike Hillary Clinton.....
SANDERS PANDERS NOT, TO THE 1%
+55
#
2015-09-11 13:55
With all the looming
problems of "generation gap," I, a 77 year-old geezer, and my 14 and 17
year-old kids, at least can agree that passing out fliers, chalking
sidewalks, and marching in parades is a great thing to do on weekends
and that Bernie Sanders is the guy to do it for.
+32
#
2015-09-11 14:41
Bernie will win.
Hillary's flailing and Joe most likely won't run. Elizabeth refuses (and
would never run against Bernie)and the DNC is out of candidates that
the public "likes" and/or is dumb enough to face off with Hillary and
stand up to Bernie.
Even O'Malley and Chaffee lack the "fire-in-the-be lly" that Bernie's got.
Even O'Malley and Chaffee lack the "fire-in-the-be lly" that Bernie's got.
+14
#
2015-09-11 14:49
Right, but it is also
possible they will shoot themselves in the foot to give the country to
the republicans. When you get right down to it, the RNC and DNC are
"owned" by the same corporations and if those corporations want to
protect their business "interests" (which is the buying and selling of
politicians and war machinery to kill people with) then they will make
the deal...
That said... The "Trump" factor is awesome cause it throws everything for a loop. But if they can get into Donald's confidence and use his charisma to make another "Hitler" they would do that in a heartbeat. Convince him that some segment of society should be rounded up lets say.... I shudder at the thought of how close we are to a "Never again" moment...
That said... The "Trump" factor is awesome cause it throws everything for a loop. But if they can get into Donald's confidence and use his charisma to make another "Hitler" they would do that in a heartbeat. Convince him that some segment of society should be rounded up lets say.... I shudder at the thought of how close we are to a "Never again" moment...
+11
#
2015-09-11 17:00
Closer than you can
imagine: Trump's ex claims he kept a book on Hitler's Greatest Speeches
on his bedside. And seeing how he is using the same formula of messaging
to the racist white-supremacist
crowd, in this case going after Hispanic immigrants, indeed it feels
like 1930 all over again. And not just here, but around the globe Right
Wing groups are raising in power by spreading anti-immigrant racism and
hate.
